A real feel bad movie. Like listening to people having an argument for 90 minutes. The ONLY reason for seeing this film is for Toyah Willcox who is the only person that invests any semblance of energy, passion or intensity into the proceedings but not enough to save the film from such a mundane script. Roger daltrey pursued and wooed her to join this project whilst she was performing a sell out run in Trafford Tanzi in the West End, before she was about to star with Laurence Olivier in The Ebony Tower, promote her latest album ' Love is the Law' and then go on tour. After all that she found time to appear in this offensive crud. There's a really unpleasant prolonged scene at the end where she is strangled and drowned at a beach that smacks of voyeuristic misogyny and is deeply unpleasant. What was ever seen worthy in the screenplay that deemed this as being a worthwhile artistic endeavor? It's like Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf rewritten by an inarticulate teen. 4 for Toyah Willcox alone.
5 Reviews
Toyah Willcox shines in lame Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf rip off
level_header1 November 2010
Warning: Spoilers
The Kids Aren't Alright
FudKicker_Malloy6 December 2004
Har har. Might as well cram a joke (no matter how played out and hackneyed) into this review somewhere.
See, I have this habit of buying out of print films. My collection ranges from the absurd, to the moving, to wonderful little films that were cruelly overlooked, and to the altogether forgotten.
I suppose this film falls in one of those categories, and no long forgotten gem, Murder: Ultimate Grounds For Divorce, is definitely absurd.
So why did I add this one to my collection? Well, seeing as how the source of my film collection takes about an hour to get to, I don't have much time to dilly-dally with "should I or shouldn't I buy this?" once I arrive there. So most of the time, I just seek out out of print films I've been searching for, and will then also spontaneously buy others for the hell of it (namely based on box art, who's in it, the decade it was made, etc.). Living dangerously with VHS doesn't always pay off. Roger Daltrey's striking, sweaty face on the cover is what made me buy it. I figured that hey, it's long forgotten and stars the handsome and talented Roger Daltrey of the amazing The Who. If anything, it could be a real laugh with friends of mine (who have come to expect me showing them some VHS oddity).
Now after having seen it, I'm not sure I want to share it with anyone else. Class of 1984, Night Children, Terrorvision, Tokyo Pop, C.H.U.D. 2...all films I gladly shared with others who enjoyed them. But this one? I'm sure that I'd rather share old David Carradine films and leave it at that.
So yeah. What is this one about? Well, Roger plays (get ready) Roger (he joins the ranks of Tony Danza for having a character named after himself). He's married to one of the unpleasant women of whom I forgot her character's name, though played by Toyah Willcox. Then there's Raven, who plays Edward (though on occasion Edwina), who is married to Philippa (Leslie Ash). All have been married to each other for 7 years, and in that time, they have had outings with each other every weekend. On a camping trip into the woods, their mode of transport breaks down, the keys are lost, and they are stranded. At first they try to make the best of it, until Roger starts with the verbal jabs and accusations of affairs start to fly. Arguments arise, and soon they come to blows. Secrets come out in the course of the film, accusations of affairs, marriages of convenience, and homosexuality fly; and all are shown in flashbacks (which involve Roger fooling around with some more unpleasant looking women). But the question arises: is any of it true? The answers to these questions are discovered through the course of the film, but really, why bother watching middle aged Brits scream at each other until they're blue in the face? Sure, cross dressing and explosions occur, but what's the use? Roger Daltrey gives a great performance, as does the rest of the cast (though Toyah exclaims "Bloody!" far too much for my taste. The little git grated my nerves something fierce), but I dare say it's all wasted. Certainly with their talent, something better and more substantial could've been created?
Thankfully though, Roger has quite a musical and acting legacy to be remembered by, and Murder: Ultimate Grounds for Divorce, will be shuffled away and forgotten by all, save for the few who have seen it or own it. This one will be filed away as one of the oddities I own and nothing more.
See, I have this habit of buying out of print films. My collection ranges from the absurd, to the moving, to wonderful little films that were cruelly overlooked, and to the altogether forgotten.
I suppose this film falls in one of those categories, and no long forgotten gem, Murder: Ultimate Grounds For Divorce, is definitely absurd.
So why did I add this one to my collection? Well, seeing as how the source of my film collection takes about an hour to get to, I don't have much time to dilly-dally with "should I or shouldn't I buy this?" once I arrive there. So most of the time, I just seek out out of print films I've been searching for, and will then also spontaneously buy others for the hell of it (namely based on box art, who's in it, the decade it was made, etc.). Living dangerously with VHS doesn't always pay off. Roger Daltrey's striking, sweaty face on the cover is what made me buy it. I figured that hey, it's long forgotten and stars the handsome and talented Roger Daltrey of the amazing The Who. If anything, it could be a real laugh with friends of mine (who have come to expect me showing them some VHS oddity).
Now after having seen it, I'm not sure I want to share it with anyone else. Class of 1984, Night Children, Terrorvision, Tokyo Pop, C.H.U.D. 2...all films I gladly shared with others who enjoyed them. But this one? I'm sure that I'd rather share old David Carradine films and leave it at that.
So yeah. What is this one about? Well, Roger plays (get ready) Roger (he joins the ranks of Tony Danza for having a character named after himself). He's married to one of the unpleasant women of whom I forgot her character's name, though played by Toyah Willcox. Then there's Raven, who plays Edward (though on occasion Edwina), who is married to Philippa (Leslie Ash). All have been married to each other for 7 years, and in that time, they have had outings with each other every weekend. On a camping trip into the woods, their mode of transport breaks down, the keys are lost, and they are stranded. At first they try to make the best of it, until Roger starts with the verbal jabs and accusations of affairs start to fly. Arguments arise, and soon they come to blows. Secrets come out in the course of the film, accusations of affairs, marriages of convenience, and homosexuality fly; and all are shown in flashbacks (which involve Roger fooling around with some more unpleasant looking women). But the question arises: is any of it true? The answers to these questions are discovered through the course of the film, but really, why bother watching middle aged Brits scream at each other until they're blue in the face? Sure, cross dressing and explosions occur, but what's the use? Roger Daltrey gives a great performance, as does the rest of the cast (though Toyah exclaims "Bloody!" far too much for my taste. The little git grated my nerves something fierce), but I dare say it's all wasted. Certainly with their talent, something better and more substantial could've been created?
Thankfully though, Roger has quite a musical and acting legacy to be remembered by, and Murder: Ultimate Grounds for Divorce, will be shuffled away and forgotten by all, save for the few who have seen it or own it. This one will be filed away as one of the oddities I own and nothing more.
Why?
HMSBaldy30 June 2001
Being obsessionally neurotic about watching a film through to the end, whatever, I braved it. Strewth!. This is not a film for watching...it is a film for laying down and avoiding. Thankfully, I bought it secondhand and so use it as a spare 'taping' tape. The script?...I'm not sure there was one. Perhaps adapted from a 13 year olds english lit essay...it's D-(do again). Editting amateurish...the cinematography high-school level. Daltrey who gave us a credible 'McVicar', could do nothing with this junk. Fellow singer Toyah Willcox tries hard, bless her and Leslie Ash must dread this being uncovered. The other geezer...Terry Raven must never, ever even think about acting again. The whole thing smacks of one of those satirised 1960s porno films...same music as well...without the benefits of nudity. Ranks with my worst 10 films ever.
As a Who, Movie, and Daltry Fan...
McVicar14 December 1998
A movie with a message
virginia-1230 March 2004
And that is,even if theres a couple of actors in here with Pete Townshend connections it doesn't neccesarily follow the results will be entertaining. Roger Daltrey was the one with the movie career and has made generally decent films,while Leslie Ash was in Quadrophenia. Toyah Wilcox,also in Quadrophenia,seems miscast she always looked better as a blonde and her performance was unremarkable. As for Terry Raven,his movie career has been no more than a series of bitparts Daltrey did his best with a bad script ....which could NEVER have been based on a true story,and its also noticable that the writer and composer of the music never did anything else either before or after. It could have been more understandable if the idea had been to promote Daltrey's new album or something,but the whole "on location" idea had been done so much better by Cliff Richard (Summer Holiday)) and the Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour). Here the mystery is,how did this codswallop ever get off the cutting room floor?. Not worth any marks its no more than a Home Movie and a series of private jokes
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